Family Traditions
by MissyEvil
Summary: Based on a Dutch holiday called 'Sinterklaas' it's celebrated today (on the fifth of December) and it's basically the same as Santa Claus. It's a real big thing here and I felt like there should be Swan-Mills family fics for this. Basically it used to be a thing in the enchanted forest too but Emma doesn't know it and doesn't understand why Henry is so sad all the time. FLUFF.


**this story is based on a dutch tradition. It's basically explained in the story really well so I think you'll get it and also it's very similar to Santa Clause so that makes it easier too. **

**You always have christmas fic so I thought there should be one for our version of christmas, Sinterklaas, too. Especially since today is actually that day (it's 1:25 am which means it's december the fifth). Anyways, hope you enjoy. This is not beta'd and all mistakes are mine. **

**Fluff too. Lots of fluff. **

**Reviews are awesome. **

* * *

The first night she thinks that she left some music on downstairs, but when she goes down to check, there's nothing.

The second night she hears it again, and she's sure she turned the music off. She walks down the stairs again, holding a basketball bat in her hand. When she comes downstairs she sees that it's Henry. She releases a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and lowers the bat.

"Hey there. What are you doing?" She asks and he is startled.

"Emma. You scared me." He says as he stands in front of the chimney.

"Sorry kid. I heard singing so I came to check. Everything ok?"

He nods. When she tries to look past him he takes a set to the side, covering her view from the chimney. She frowns but decides not to discuss it further. After all, it's a school day tomorrow.

The third night she gets a bit angry.

"Henry come back to bed."

When he refuses she feels the frustration growing inside her. "I don't know what you're doing but this has to stop. You can't come and sing songs in front of the chimney every night, it's silly. What are you even doing?"

She steps down and pushes him away. She's staring at a shoe with a carrot and a sugar cube. There's a letter too, she notices. Emma tries to reach for it but Henry beats her to it and quickly runs upstairs with the shoe.

"Nothing. It's none of your business."

She's never seen him that angry before and it hurts her a little bit. Things were supposed to be amazing now. Henry was back from Neverland, Neal was in town, everybody was safe and Henry was living with her every other week. Sure, the relationship between her and Regina was really poor, but they should still all be happy. And they had been, before Henry had started putting that freaking shoe in front of the chimney.

The morning after night four was even weirder. For the first times since the singing had started, Emma was downstairs earlier than Henry. She is just preparing a cup of coffee for herself when she sees the shoe again. The carrot and sugar cube are there too but this time there is no letter.

Suddenly Henry comes rushing down the stairs, he doesn't even look at her or greet her good morning, he just goes straight to the chimney. The broad smile that had been on his face disappears and tears fill his eyes. Emma notices and sets her cup of coffee down. "Hey are you okay?" She asks. Clearly he isn't, but she doesn't have much experience with a crying Henry.

He looks up and runs to her, hugging her waist. "I'm sorry." He says, sobbing loud and hard and covering her shirt in saliva. Great, now she'd have to change again.

"About what?" she says, running her hands through his chair.

"Mo-om" He cries harder and now she really doesn't understand anymore. She pushes him a bit from her and dropps down on her knees. She takes his face in his hands and forces him to look at her.

"Kid you really have to give me for information than that because I really don't understand."

He starts crying again. "I kn- I know I wasn't that bad." He says, his breath hitching.

"I tried to be really good this year," another pause, "but I was so mean to mom first."

Although Emma doesn't understand what is going on with Henry, she does know a good solution for their problem.

"Maybe we can go see her tonight, have dinner together?"

He nods and hugs her again, crying even harder. She'd have to talk to Regina too, about this situation.

* * *

"Madam Mayor."

"Regina, It's me."

There was a short pause before the older woman spoke up again.

"Miss Swan."

She and Regina weren't on really good terms. In Neverland they'd grown really close together, mostly because Regina's walls had been down in order to save Henry. Emma had taken advantage of the situation – that's how Regina liked to see the situation – and had found her way to Regina's heart. On one certain dark night, Emma had heard the soft cries of Regina. Not being able to listen to them anymore, she had gone over and taken Regina into her arms, calming her down.

Regina was vulnerable and her walls were completely destroyed. So when Emma had leaned down to kiss her, she'd let it happen and kissed the blonde back. The feelings were overwhelming. These were the kinds of feelings she had never wanted to feel anymore. After that, Regina had pretty much cut Emma off. The blonde had yelled at her, telling her she couldn't just toy with someone's feelings. What Emma hadn't realized was that it was just as painful for her. Every time she felt the urge to wrap her arms around Emma and never let go (and there were a lot of those moments especially when Emma yelled at her, but in her eyes there was this empty look. She knew that Emma felt abandoned and betrayed once again) she just told herself that it was for their own good.

Now they pretty much ignored each other as much as possible, it did make it a little bit easier, even though the feelings were still there.

"I need to talk with you about Henry."

"Is he alright?" the worry was dripping from her voice.

"I don't really know, physically he's okay but he's really upset lately and he keeps singing these silly songs in the middle of the night."

Regina stays quite for a moment before she speaks up again. "Let me guess, he puts a shoe front of the chimney too?"

Emma's mouth drops open. She's happy the brunette can't see her now. "Yeah!"

"Come over for dinner tonight, 6pm. Don't be late." After that she hangs up.

* * *

When they arrive later that night, Henry is not feeling better at all. He does seem very eager to see Regina though, he looks like he's about to break down the front door actually. She wants to tell him to calm down, but then Regina's opening the door and he's in her arms immediately. She doesn't even look surprised she just rubs his back and looks up at Emma then. Her lips from into a shaky smile and Emma manages to return the gesture. God, why does everything have to be so hard for them?

"I'm sorry mom. I'm so sorry." He squeezes her so tight that Regina actually has trouble breathing. She tries to pull away from the hug but he only pulls her closer. She stand instead, lifting his body too and he clings to her like a little child. Emma's surprised that Regina can still carry him, he's so tall and heavy now.

"Sshh it's okay honey." She says, her voice really high. Why doesn't she ever get that sweet voice? No she can't think that.

"You haven't been a bad child, Henry. If anything, you've proved once again how good you are." She drops him on the couch and her hand covers his hard. "You are a hero Henry, and a good child. I'm sure Black Pete has just been very busy up until now."

She looks up at Emma when she says her last words and it's almost funny how lost the blonde looks.

"Just calm down and watch some television, okay? I am going to talk to Emma."

He nods and wipes away his tears. "Okay." It does sound a little more hopeful.

Regina takes Emma's arm and drags her away to the other side of the house. Emma wants to ask why they're going so far from Henry but she's afraid Regina will take her hand away and she doesn't want that yet.

* * *

"Uh what?" Emma asks, her mouth hanging wide open. She must have heart it wrong because really, Regina did not just tell her about a couple of townspeople dressing up as black man for a holiday.

Regina rolls her eyes. "Yes Miss Swan. It's a tradition that we had back in our land and I believe that in this world, it's originally from the Netherlands."

Emma frowns because she really doesn't get it. "So uh… it's like the same as Santa Clause?" She asks as they walk to Regina's study.

"No, not really. His name actually is 'Sinterklaas' which is actually a translated version of Santa Clause but we don't want to give them the same name so we just call him Clause. The story is that he saved a lot of black man from slavery and now they can work for him. They visited children every year and Clause gives them presents. The big night is on the 5th of December, but weeks before the Black Pete's already start placing little treats in the children's shoes. The story goes that he has this 'big book' where he keeps track of what the kids are doing and what they want, and if they have been naughty he takes them with him back to Spain."

Emma frowns at first but then nods. "I think I get it. But aren't lots of people opposed to it, since he's white and he has a bunch of black people working for him?"

Regina shakes her head and sits down on the couch next to Emma. "No, because he saved them. He saved them from someone mean and now they get to live happily ever after and do what they like. Also, the black doesn't really refer to their skin color. They're black because they enter your houses through your chimney."

Emma bursts out laughing and doubles forward, her hand over her stomach.

"That's why Henry sings those silly songs and places his shoe in front of the chimney every night?"

Regina nods. "Yes, he's expecting Black Pete to put something in it in the night."

Emma laughs again but slowly it fades away when she realizes her mistake. "That's why he's been so sad lately."

"Yes."

Emma feels her heart clench then because no matter how hard she tries, Regina is still his mother and she can't ever be her. She doesn't know all of these things.

"Okay so what do I do?"

Regina sighs and Emma almost thinks she's not going to tell her, but then she turns around and smiles. It's not a real smile but it's enough.

"You take the carrot and the sugar because those are supposed to be for Claus' horse. Then place something in it, chocolate is mostly good."

She nods slowly. "I understand. Thank you, Regina."

Regina smiles again and this time it's real and that just warms Emma's heart. "You're quite welcome, Emma."

* * *

Emma stays with Henry that night, to sing the songs in front of the chimney. She can't really understand them, since most are in Dutch. She wonders if Henry has a clue what he's singing, because she for sure doesn't.

"Sinterklaas kapoentje, gooi wat in me schoentje. Gooi wat in me laarsjes, dank u Sinterklaasje. Sinterklaasje bonne bonne bonne, gooi wat in me lege lege tonne. Gooi wat in me laarsje, dank u Sinterklaasje."

It sounds quite lovely and suddenly she wishes that she could have seen Regina with Henry singing them together.

As soon as Henry goes to bed she takes his letter, the carrot and the sugar cube. She does as Regina told her too and places the sugar cube and carrot back to their normal places. She takes Henry's wish list and opens it. So this is what's she's going to have to buy or at least his top 10, as Regina told her. Most things are just basic 12 year old toys. Mostly games and some clothes and books. When Emma reads his number one though, she's sure her heart stops working for a moment.

Of all the things she had thought about, she was not expecting this one. There was a picture of her and Regina attached to the paper. She remembers when this was taken, it was after another successful miner's day and everybody had had fun. She's making a face and looking directly in the camera, but the most surprising is the fact that Regina is standing next to her, beaming at the side of her face. Emma has never seen her look like that, and she finds herself staring at the stupid picture for minutes. Why couldn't she just have turned her head at that moment.

Under the picture Henry wrote "Dear Clause, most of all I would like my moms to get together. They both love each other but I can't make them see that. I don't know if that counts as a present but I would really like that because I want them to be happy too."

Her eyes fill with tears. How does he keep surprising her?

* * *

The next morning, Henry is jumping up and down when he sees the chocolate letter shaped like an 'H' in his shoe.

"Emma!" he screams and she runs downstairs. "What is it?"

"Black Pete came!" He holds up his letter and Emma pretends to be surprised. "That's amazing! You believe in yourself now?" He nods and hugs her once again.

"Come on, let's go show mom." She says and although Henry looks surprised she can see the twinkle in his eyes.

Regina's waiting for them in Granny's and she doesn't even get a chance to say hello before Henry jumps into her arms. "Look!" He says, shoving the letter in his face. She smiles at him.

"That's great, Henry."

He nods and runs away to show it to the rest of the people in the diner. When he runs, he drops his backpack on the floor and Regina stands up to take it. When she straightens herself she realizes she's face to face with the blonde and awkwardly she takes a step back. Stupid feelings.

"You did great, Miss Swan."

"Thanks to you." Emma responds and before both can really prepare for the move, Emma leans in and wraps her arms around Regina.

"Really, thanks."

For a second Regina just freezes, but then Emma holds her a little tighter and she lets go, pulling the blonde just as close.

Both don't notice the smile on Henry's face as he watches them. He can't believe his wish is already working!

* * *

She calls Regina around 4pm on the fifth of December. She had wanted to do this way earlier but didn't really know how.

"Hey." She says into the phone.

"Uh.. hello."

"Well I was wondering if you'd like to celebrate with us tonight?"

Regina wants to say yes, but she feels like Emma is doing it more for Henry than for herself and she doesn't want to disturb the blonde.

"That's okay, Miss –"

"Regina, I want you to come too." Emma says as if she can read her mind. The brunette finds herself agreeing to the offer.

* * *

When Emma opens the door for Regina that night – because Henry is way too hyper to do so – she immediately pushes forward again, wrapping her arms around the brunette and squeezing hard. She just can't help herself. Regina hugs back, but when the hug ends Emma can see the hurt look in her eyes. She frowns.

"Henry your mom and I are just going to talk for a while okay? You stay here and sing some more songs?"

The boy nods and continues running through the living room, dressed in his own Black Pete outfit and those dark stripes on his cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Emma asks when they enter the kitchen. They're both leaning against the counter and Emma is awfully close.

"This." Regina says gesturing between the two of them.

Emma looks hurt and takes a step back, Regina reacts by taking one forward again. "No Emma, I'm not saying I don't like it."

"You do?" Emma asks and her voice sounds so hopeful.

Regina doesn't know what is getting into her, it must be the atmosphere that this holiday brings.

"Yes."

"So why- In Neverland?" She stumbles over her words but Regina doesn't tease her with it.

"Because if I open myself up to you and let you in, that's just a guarantee for heartbreak. One day you're going to see who I really am and you're going to run and this time I won't get up anymore. "

Regina's head drops and her eyes fill with tears.

The blonde immediately reaches out and uses her thumb to stroke the tears away. "See who you really are, you mean the Evil Queen? Regina, I already see who you are and that's not the Evil Queen, that's not Queen Regina, not the Mayor and certainly not a villain. You're Regina, and you're the mother of our son. If you let me in, I'm not going to run."

The brunette smiles to the ground until Emma uses her thumb to lift Regina's chin. She slowly leans forward, giving Regina enough time to push her away. She doesn't, however, and their lips meet. Regina is once again overwhelmed by the feelings but this time she doesn't let them scare her. She just smiles into the kiss.

When they finally break apart, they're both smiling. Their peaceful moment gets ruined however, by a loud knock on the door.

"That would be Ruby." Emma says when they walk towards the living room.

"Sshh. Black Pete." Regina corrects her.

They force Henry to wait a bit before he opens the door. Ruby is long gone, instead there are two big sacks in front of the door, filled with gifts. Henry forces them to help him carry them to the living room where they all sit down on the ground, Henry says it's part of it.

Emma sits down next to Regina, the first sack between her legs. Her back feels warm, partly because of the heat from the chimney, but also because Regina's hands rests on her lower back and it's warming up her entire back.

"Okay, first gift if for…. Henry!" She says and the boy grabs it from her hands.

It's a new flashlight that he had been talking about for weeks, but it hadn't been on his list. "He really must have listened so good, if he knows I wanted that."

"Yes, I guess he did." Regina says and winks at Emma. The blonde smiles back and takes a second to wrap her arm around Regina. Once again, they don't notice Henry's smile.

"Next one is for….Emma!" She says and then, "wow I can't believe he got me something too!"

Henry laughs. It feels silly to buy presents for yourself but Regina says that's a part of it too. She unwraps the present and pretends to be surprised. "He even got the right color!" That earns her a glare from Regina but she can see in her eyes that the woman is just teasing her.

"Okay so let's see what we have here. She turns it around a couple of times until.. Regina. " she speaks and holds the present in front of the woman next to her. "Guess Black Pete knew that you'd be with your family."

Regina feels her eyes water again at Emma's sweet gesture but forces them away and focuses her attention on her present. It's a new tool for her kitchen, one she'd wanted for a long time but they didn't have it in Storybrooke. She definitely had to ask Emma about this later.

When the last present is given Emma looks at their son. "Are you happy with everything you got?"

He nods. "Yes. I got everything I wanted."

Regina smiles. "Really? Even your number one?" She remembers that he always put really expensive gifts on number one.

To her surprise he looks between them. "I think so, yeah."

* * *

"What was Henry talking about earlier?" Regina says when they lay in bed that night. Emma had been afraid Regina was going to leave but it seemed like the brunette craved the contact as much as she did.

Emma turns then and hands Regina the wish list. She points to the picture on top of the list and her heart warms when Regina smiles. "I remember that day." She says.

"That was the day I realized I was in love with you."

Emma's eyes widen. "That was months before we even went to Neverland."

Regina blushes. "Yes." She speaks softly.

The blonde yanks the paper from her hands and pulls the brunette into her arms. "Don't you dare be ashamed by that. I just wish I knew."

Regina presses her lips to Emma and this time the kiss deepens. They hadn't done that in the kitchen because of Henry but now that they were alone, Emma was eager to open her mouth for the brunette. She moaned into the kiss.

Finally after a while Regina broke it off, settling against Emma's chest instead.

"No more running."

"No more running." Emma agrees.

* * *

**you can google 'sinterklaas' and 'zwartie piet' (black pete) if you wonder how they look or are curious about everything. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**x**


End file.
